


Not everything is as it seems

by Lyrah



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Puns, Farmer likes to make puns, I don't really have any ideias of where to take the story, I might never continue this tbh, Multi, Not Beta Read, Sebastian and Abigail are very obvious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27130618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrah/pseuds/Lyrah
Summary: Sam always thought that Pelican Town was somewhat boring. Don't get him wrong, he loves his hometown, but there isn't ever much to do.Things start to change when the new farmer moves in, and with him, more and more strange things keep on happening.Well.Now he just has to find what is going on, doesn't he?
Relationships: Eventual Sebastian/Abigail (Stardew Valley), Sam/Male Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	Not everything is as it seems

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! This was written at two AM, and it's also my first fanfic, but I still think it's pretty good, so I decided to share!  
> Now, to be honest with you all, I am not sure where to take this story, so it might take me a good while to update again, if I ever do. I do have some ideias, but not really anything concrete.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Pelican Town is located in the country side of the Ferngill Republic, more specifically, in Stardew Valley. It's a small town, but a charming one nonetheless, the perfect place to relax and let your worries melt for a while. It has a gorgeous beach, and if you're lucky, you might find a valuable shell or two. The mountain side has a beautiful river with plenty of fish, along with a spa for those days where you just need some time off. The only real danger would come from Cindersap Forest, with it's golems, ghosts and slimes. Even so, one cannot deny it's enchanting aura, and it makes a great place to visit in the day. There exists a big sense of community in the town, where everyone knows everyone, with its own traditions and festivals, and even the most reluctant of residents find themselves unable to not participate in its events. 

So basically, Pelican town is a city where nothing exciting ever happens. Even the monsters in Cindersap Forest aren't that bad once you learn how to avoid them. Not that I mind that much, actually. Sure, I want to be a rock star and move to the big city one day but… Unlike Sebastian, I could never see myself leaving the place for the rest of my life. I definitely would like to settle down after a few years and come back here, find someone, maybe start a family… I know, it's not exactly what people think I would want, but I like kids, and I like to think I'm pretty good with them. So settling down in my hometown, with someone I love and plenty of space for the kids to play, seems like the perfect thing.

Anyway, I got off topic. The town is small, and whenever someone new moves in, there's a lot of fanfare and curiosity about it. So, considering anyone has yet to meet the new guy, that only makes him all the more Intriguing.

“Hey Seb, you know the new farmer that moved in last spring?” I ask Sebastian, a few minutes after finishing a session of Solarion Chronicles with him.

He looks up from his computer at me sprawled on his bed. “What about him?”

“Have you ever seen him?”

He squints his eyes, becoming suspicious. “No, I haven't, why?”

“That's exactly why!” I say, throwing my arms up. “It's so suspicious! Mayor Lewis makes everyone that's new introduce themselves, so why haven't we seen or heard anything about this new guy other than his pronouns and that he's going to take over the old farm?!”

He shrugs. “Maybe he's shy or something. Can't blame a guy for that.”

I roll my eyes. “That's bullshit, and you know it.” He grunts and doesn't say anything back.

It's true though. We are such a small town, that having everyone who moves in introduce themselves to the people is a tradition by this point. Everyone does that, no matter how shy you are. So why would this guy not do it? And it's even more suspicious when both Seb's mom and Abby's dad refuse to say anything about the farmer. I mean, he must be visiting them, or else how would he get seeds for the farm or get his house repaired? He reeks of secrets.

After letting the silence continue for a little while, I speak again. “Sooo… Me and Abby were thinking…” Sebastian groans. “What!” I exclaim. “I haven't even said anything!”

“You don't need to, whenever you and Abby 'think'-” he does air quotations on the word. “-about something, it's always dangerous or stupid.”

“C'mon man, that's not true!” he gives me a look. “Okay, fine. But this is harmless! We only wanted to visit the new guy!”

“Are you insane?!” it's his turn to throw his hands up. “We don't even know him!”

“Aww please Seb! Nothing's gonna happen! Like, think about it! If we die, it will be super obvious who the culprit is, so he can't do anything!” He's glaring at me. “Pleeease? Abby will be there too!”

He rolls his eyes and then sighs. “Fine. When are you guys planning to go there?”

“Well…” I say, and he squints at me. “Abby's already waiting on the road to the farm…” 

“Oh my god!” He stands up. “I can't fucking believe you two!” Seb starts walking towards his door, and out of his bedroom. I call out for him to wait, and he only flips me the bird. I laugh and follow him, all the way out of his house to where Abby is waiting for us.

Once we get there, I see her leaning against the fence, her arms crossed. When she sees us, she immediately starts walking towards us. “There you guys are! You two took ages, what the hell kept you so long?”

“Hey, don't look at me!” I say, holding my hands up. “Blame Sebastian over here, you know I couldn't just enter and ask him to come, I had to ease him into it!” 

“Dude.” Seb makes a face. “Don't say that, it sounds weird as fuck.” 

I'm about to ask why, when I realize. I put a hand on my chest, going for my most dramatic voice. “Awww, Seb, why? Am I really that ugly? Or maybe…” I smirk. “Maybe you would prefer someone else to ease you into things? One of our other friends perhaps?”

Seb scowls, a small blush on his face and his hands going inside the pockets of his hoodie. Looking at Abby, I notice the small flicker of jealousy in her eyes. “Whatever.” she says. “You guys have to come look! I don't know how he did it, but this dude's farm is seriously cool!”

Curiosity picked, we all follow Abby. I can't help but wonder what she meant by that. The whole place was a mess before, debris everywhere, overgrown plants and weeds all over the place, fallen trees, rocks, dead crops- it was a disaster. I don't think there were even any animals out there. It was a fun place to hang out in highschool though, my classmates liked to sneak out at night and throw parties in the abandoned farmhouse. The house was in bad shape before, roof caved in, rotten wood, broken windows, you name it, and it only got worse with reckless teenagers invading the place, so it's really hard to imagine the whole place as anything more than a wreck, but looking at the farm now, I can see why Abby was so enchanted.

There's trees everywhere- apple trees, orange, pomegranate, you name it, along with plenty of wild ones. I don't know anything about trees but they look so- healthy. It's not like the trees near town look sick or anything, but those have a certain glow to them. There's flowers everywhere, right now it's poppies, summer spangles and sunflowers, plus a plethora of wild flowers, bees buzzing all around them. I don't see any bee houses, they're probably wild ones. On the bottom right, I see a big lake, big little pads floating, a coop built next to it. Ducks swim in the water, chickens eat the grass nearby. Looking beyond the greenhouse, I can barely see a few barns behind the trees, cows, sheep, pigs and rabbits freely roaming around. The crops you would normally expect in a farm are still there, but there's no apparent order to them, almost as if they were left to grow wildly. Near the gate, I see the farmhouse. I can't tell if the overgrown plants all around it are on purpose, or a result of being unattended for so long. Somehow, I think it's the former. Then, in the middle of it all, there's a giant rowan tree. I didn't even know rowan trees grew here, or that they could get _so big._

The whole place looks more like a miniature enchanted forest than a farm.

“Wow…” I let out, eyes wide.

Abby turns to me and Seb, looking smug. “See what I meant now? I don't know how Mystery Farmer did this, but it's amazing!”

“You're right! Hey, we should totally go explore inside!” I say, immediately being followed by a “What?!” from Sebastian.

Abby smiles, a gleam in her eyes.

“I like the way you think. Let's do it!”

“Now just hold on a second- Are you guys insane?!” Seb waves his arms around, as if that would somehow represent our apparent lack of sanity. “We don't even know this guy- What if he's around and decides to kill us or something?”

Abby scoffs and rolls her eyes. “C'mon Sebby,” I delight at seeing Seb's small blush at the nickname. “What are the odds of that? He's probably just some old recluse with way too much time in his hands.” after that, she softens a little, “I'm sure everything is going to be fine, okay? You don't need to worry.”

“Yeah man, besides, I'll be there to protect you if anything happens.” I say teasingly, after Abby and Seb spent a few seconds too long looking at each other. “Or maybe it's not me you want to protect you?” It's the same joke as before, but it's not like they're gonna realize it. Seb scoffs and tells us to just go, but I see his gaze going back to Abby at my comment. God those two are so obvious, I'm glad I'll never be like that.

Not wasting any time, I jump over the gate, being careful not to step in any of the flowers. Abby follows after me, and after a second more of hesitation, Seb follows suit.

“Okay, now what?” he asks, crossing his arms. Abby looks around, smiling.

“We explore, duh! Maybe there's some monsters out here?”

“In the middle of the day?” Seb scoffs. “You know they only come out at night, and even then, it's only in the forest.”

“True,” Abby sighs, sagging. “A girl can hope, though.”

“C'mon, cheer up Abby!” I say, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “I bet that big tree over there is alive or something, I'll race you to it!” I take off on a sprint to the sound of Abby's laugh and Sebastian grumbling, no longer caring to be careful with the flowers.

Stopping at the big rowan tree, I can't help but admire it. It's way bigger than any of the other trees around, somehow reaching 90 meters tall. I didn't even know they grew that big! There's no berries in it right now, which is a bummer, but then, I don't even think I would be able to get them without having to climb the tree, with how far up it's branches are. It's bark is rough, a deep brown. Not really surprising, but somehow I can't take my eyes out of the tree, like it's the most sacred thing I will ever get the chance to see. I hear Abby and Seb catching up, but I barely pay any attention to them, one my hands reaching towards the tree almost as if in a trance.

A bee stings my hand and I break out of whatever that was, yelping and shaking my hand. “Fuck, what was that for?!” shaking my head, I notice that Abby and Seb seem almost as dazed as me. Okay, so I wasn't the only one that felt that way, then.

“Oh my, this is hard to beelive, visitors? Quite the surprise indeed.” We all turn around at the new voice, eyes wide. It's a man, quite a tall one at that. He's slim and dressed in what to me looks like a green dress but probably has some other name, long sleeves hiding the arms in front of his chest, and ending just shy of touching the ground. I notice his feet are bare, and can't help but wonder how this expensive looking dress isn't dirty, it seems like something that would be inevitable in a place like this. His skin is a reddish brown ochre, downturned eyes a vibrant magenta colour, ears ending in a point. I realize his hair is a very similar colour to his eyes, almost hurting to look at, long and straight, flowing freely down his back- wait, _flowing freely down his back..._ That could be part of a song.

“This is honey sweet, but I must ask, who might you three be? And who gave you permission to buzz around uninvited?” He has a nice smile, but his eyes are hard. It's pretty scary, actually. I exchange looks with Abby and Seb, having a silent conversation about who should talk to the scary man. Eventually, Abby sighs and steps forward, crossing her arms.

“We got curious. You show up out of nowhere, and then never talk to anyone in town? Pretty rude, to be honest.” she looks at him without flinching, and wow. It's moments like this that remind me how badass she actually is, like, this guy is _scary._ “So, you got any explanation for that? You doing murder or something?”

The guy's eyes harden even more, and I notice a tension on his frame. “That stings, truly. You've got quite a queen spirit, no?” He stares at us, unmoving for a few seconds. Just as I notice Abby starting to shift uneasily, he chuckles, and then his whole demeanor changes. His shoulders relax, and his arms drop the barest amount. His eyes look soft now, amused, and I hadn't noticed before, but now it's painfully obvious his previous smile was false, compared with this new one. “Very well, you have a point. You may call me Cider. And who would all of you be?”

“You still haven't answered my other question, pal. What's with the disappearing act, huh? I'm sure Mayor Lewis told you to introduce yourself. That's how things work around here.” Abby spreads her legs a little, why I don't know. I guess it makes her look resolute or like she's not giving up.

Cider laughs again, full of joy. “My, how you swarm me with questions. Quite the suspicious one, are you not? Very well. The answer is quite simple, it simply slipped my mind. As you can see, I was quite busy setting everything up-” he says, briefly moving his hands from their hiding place to encompass the farm. “as well as the fact that I do not fare well during the spring and summer months. Hot days, particularly, make me merely a drone going through motions. Why, sometimes I feel like I might melt right then and there!”

Abby doesn't say anything for a few seconds, but then she sighs and relaxes. ”Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Okay fine, you're off the hook.” Cider chuckles again. “Name's Abigail, and the two idiots over there are Sam and Sebastian.” she says pointing to us two in turn. I look over at Seb for a second, and roll my eyes upon realizing that he's looking at Abby with an awe filled look. Shifting my eyes back to Cider, I find him already looking at me. He smiles, nodding while shifting his gaze between the two love birds. At least someone else knows what I must suffer through. Actually, though… it felt nice to have that smile directed at me… I quickly shake the thought out.

“Sup.” I say, at the same time that Seb grunts in greeting.

“Hello.” his eyes crinkle in amusement. “Be careful giving out your names so freely, little queen. You might find that a bumble bee is actually a wasp in disguise.” Before any of us can say anything about the strange comment, he claps his hands. “Well, as nice as this was, I sadly must attend to my duties. I promise to introduce myself to the other residents soon. But until then, I must ask that none of you enter my farm again uninvited, is that amenable?”

We all nod, and begin to walk away again after making our goodbyes. As I was walking away, however, I realized something. _Buzzing, swarm, stings…_ “Wait a second!” Abby and Seb look at me like I'm crazy, and I turn around to face Cider again. “Were you making bee puns that whole time?!” Cider merely laughs, the sound of it harmonious, and I can't help but smile in return.

I can't wait for when he introduces himself to everyone, already planning the next visit.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? Feel free to leave a comment with criticism, or anything of the sort, I quite like to have people telling me on how to improve! You don't have to, of course, you're equally as welcome to just leave a key smash or something. :P


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